You may be about to lose your job, but how about giving some money to United Way?

The journalists at Gannett’s Montgomery (AL) Advertiser were interviewed for new positions last week and are waiting to hear if they can continue to work at the paper. (They know that some staffers will be let go.)
“Here is the real kicker,” an Advertiser employee tells Romenesko readers. “We just had three straight days of meetings – you had to attend one (roughly 15 minutes) – to hear about the United Way. Our publisher strongly encouraged us to donate money, using the guidelines of 1% of salary if salaried or 1 hour per pay period if hourly, to the charity.”

Employees were told they had to fill out a United Way donation form – even if they aren’t giving money. “Nobody’s upset about being charitable, but we’re less than a week removed from interviewing for our jobs and some from the newsroom are going to be fired … and we’re having a required meeting in which we’re encouraged to donate money.